The A-Team: New student organization impacts students

More than two years ago, the “A-Team” meant nothing more to Boise State students than the 80s show starring Mr. T.

Now campus has its own A-Team.

Lacking a few explosions and military patches, the A-Team at Boise State differs from the famous Hollywood version.

Most notably, the Boise State A-Team has a different area of expertise.

The A-Team specializes in providing experience for students interested in the entertainment industry. Working closely with Boise State staff, the A-Team is a student organization that helps plan and promote events at the Taco Bell Arena.

The student organization’s name actually stands for the ‘Arena Team.’

Heather Hanks, promotions coordinator for Taco Bell Arena, created the student organization and assigned its name.

When Hanks graduated from Boise State and began working for the Taco Bell Arena in 2008, she noticed a serious lack of connection between campus and the Arena.

She asked herself, “Why aren’t we offering something to the students on campus?”

Though she began small—with only one intern—demand grew and motivated her to create
the A-Team.

Now approximately 25-30 students compose the A-Team, and Hanks predicts more to come.

Though formed in 2011, the A-Team celebrates its one-year anniversary as an official student organization this spring.

From helping with meet-and-greets—where individuals get to meet musicians and artists backstage—to handing out flyers downtown, members of the A-Team take care of all marketing duties.

Member participation differs in the organization. Some members attend the once a month meeting and hear what’s going on, while others dedicate the majority of their week to the A-Team.

Some of the students who have made the A-Team their priority are the four currently working as interns
for Hanks.

Meyer, a senior marketing major in her third year at Boise State, originally had a music/business major. After transferring to Boise State from the University of Colorado-Boulder, she noticed a gap between her split major and decided to focus on the business aspect.

Meyer sees the potential of connecting to campus with the A-Team.

“One of the goals (is) to increase the A-Team presence on campus, so we try and start there and branch out,” she said.

Siders, also a senior and marketing major, has been involved in other event-planning organizations and sees the A-Team as “definitely another hands-on aspect of things.”

Ferguson, a senior marketing major preparing to graduate this May, sees the benefits of gaining experience from the A-Team.

“It’s just been beneficial to the advancement of my career in marketing,”
Ferguson said.

He also hopes to see more benefits after he graduates.

After two previous interns involved in the A-Team graduated last spring 2012, they immediately obtained jobs pertaining to their major in the summer. Ferguson hopes to be the third.

Hanks enjoys seeing the opportunities the A-Team offers to students.

“It’s definitely the favorite component of my job,” Hanks said.

For more information on the A-Team, contact Hanks at hhanks@boisestate.edu.

The A-Team meets every first Friday of the month at 10:30 at the Taco Bell Arena.